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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Ducati 748 pushing the patience....


So once again somebody tried to steal the Duc. getting rather tiresome as they epic fail and leave me to pick up the parts.. this time a screwed up ignition lock and front brake disc.
The bike was put in to fix the front fork oil seal which had it fail the MOT and now that's done through a shop at silly money, the bike hasn't been the same since..

So, I'm now changed the regulator/rectifier and added a new battery to the list. I thought that would fix the issue of misfiring when warm, or the fact that I would charge the old battery it would be flat in as many seconds as it takes to scribble this...

I've checked everything with a volt meter and apparently it was charging on tickover and at around 2500 rpm...so you would have thought that was okay..but no. the battery simply died. So I bought a new battery...on the way to work the usual shit started with misfiring and general fucking around...

looking around there are several reasons for this, which just makes me more inclined to sell the bike. Don't have time for this kind of shit. temp sensors, fuel filters embedded in the petrol tank that need changed as they can draw a charge due to the fuel injector system, and bla bla Italian fucking shite electrics.. They obviously put more money into the design than the electrics that have a design fault from the start with thin wires from the generator burning out and bla bla...And yes, mine is a three phase system which is meant to be the improved version...god help any two phase persons..

I ride bikes. A lot of "bike" riders leave them in the garage and wear the leather jacket to the bar explaining how much fun their 40 minutes a week is so awesome...well bollox, rain wind or shine I need my two wheels to work!

rant over! 


80's Floyd Strat

Right, the initial plan was to make a replica of Zappas yellow strat. Obviously to a point as sticking in pre-amps and equalizers and batteries requires more effort...

Anyway, having looked around for a body , things got a bit expensive if I was gonna go new with a relic scheme. So when this solid ash body came up I thought I'd just build a similar guitar., I was fortunate enough to find two 80s Seymour Duncan vintage hot stacks and I already had an 80s HS3 Dimarzio which balances up the neck pickup.
With a floyd sitting topside without a route as done with all the later strat bodies, the string height is slightly higher, but that seems to add to the solid ash sustain and the hot stacks that seem to pick up everything including radio one... harmonics across the board and when you add in any distortion things gets really heavy without getting muddy.

Most of the plastic is from the 80s and works well with the salmon gloss (see-thru 2 grain) colour.

The neck is pretty fat which also assists a huge sound.

The wiring is setup with tone on the bridge pup. Interesting when you use 2 position between the two hot stacks. Currently wearing 10's.

Really enjoying the ride!